More Wildcatters

The VPs for collecting Wildcatters in this game seems to be a sound strategy for winning, but that said, it is a tricky thing to achieve.  Excellent game.

Richard was yellow, I was blue, Jeff was green and Russell red.

Shanghai Trader

Classic game first released in 1986.

Richard had the British concession, Russell Japan, Jeff Germany, Stefan US, Simon Russia and I had the French concession (or should I say French Connection).

Naturally I secured the French Club with the nice little earner in the Bastille Day Bash, but with little else.  Simon embarked on a Customs Swindle as well as running the Lido Nightclub.  Richard had the Currency trader but ran into trouble with some Russian thugs.  Jeff had control of the racetrack, which was a good earner for him, although I did win twice.  Russell had control of significant infrastructure and Stefan had the shipping company.

I had a lucky escape from the brothels of Old China Town, but Simon fell victim to the Terror of the Tongs who fleeced him for $100,000!

Stefan made an early escape pursed by the Lido courtesan, quickly followed by Jeff and Russell.  All were well supported by bodyguards and survived a few assassination attempts.  I then got to the airport but had to wait till the very last turn to get a flight out, just as the little red books were being printed. While at the airport I dodged a few bullets but thought best to hire some assassins to remove the remaining competition.  That put paid to Simon and Richard but left blood on my hands which I quickly washed off.

On the surviving concession holders checking their International Bank Accounts, Jeff had $250,000, Russell $350,000, I had $400,000 and Stefan $450,000.

Puerto Rico - twice

Last week I was fortunate to play the deluxe version of this game with Richard.

First game (and very first game for Richard).

I scored 55 (17 in tokens, 23 for buildings and 15 in bonuses).

Richard scored 40 (22 for tokens, 13 for buildings and 5 bonuses)

Second game and I scored 58.

(22 for tokens, 28 in buildings and 8 for bonuses).

Richard amassed an impressive 62,

mainly in tokens (40) but with 12 for buildings and 10 for bonuses.

Serenissima

Short of time and still exhausted after completing the big Trafalgar game I just managed to watch a how to video on this game before setting off to Richard's to play it with him, Simon and Russell.

Turned out I had watched a how to for the latest version of this game, not the first edition that we would be playing.

I think the idea of the game exceeds the game play.  Later editions might change this.  

I was the Ottomans, Simon Venice, Russel Genoa and Richard Spain.

Panamax

My first game and I had a heap of beginner's luck managing cargo through the Panama canal.

I was green (top right hand corner) and amassed 79 points.  Russell (red) had 46, Stefan (black) 42 and Richard (yellow) 32.  A fiendishly complex game.

Container with Offshore Banking Facilities

Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of the completed board, just my pile of containers.

Oh, and the score sheet. 

 I got a photo of that.

The offshore banking addition just added some extra options for acquiring money and or containers, but seemed to take people's eye of the main game, which is to turn containers into money, not chase auction bids consuming valuable actions by calling the bank.

Railways of the World - Epic Finish

Six players for this session which had a very exciting climax.

Richard - Yellow

Simon - Green

Mark - Black

Jeff - Red

Stefan - Purple

Peter - Blue

AAR by Richard

Thanks for playing today. It turned out to be a very exciting photo

finish. It was neck and neck between Jeff and I for a while and then

Mark made a big move late game getting the delivery bonus for Duluth to

shoot into contention with the final turn to come. Everyone was tightly

clustered for most of the game except for Simon who lagged behind. But

there was a cunning plan in play which no-one saw coming.

Well done to Simon for almost pulling off a miraculous literally come

from behind victory scoring 24 points in the final calculations for

completing 3 Major Lines.

This game was good in that it showed the importance of the Major Lines,

which hadn't been pursued by anyone in the last game. So another thing

to keep in mind other than just deliveries.

Whilst negative play can sometimes be counter productive, there is

certainly a place for some careful blocking particularly if someone is

trying to complete a major line. Some of us might well have thought

about the value of blocking Simon and his quest for a major line (with

the benefit of hindsight), but Simon did it very well though with being

so far back, no-one was really paying much attention to him and he

nearly pulled it off.

Speaking of negative play, I was pleased to finally not be the Villain

for once, with Mark taking over that mantle for this game when he

brutally shut down Jeff for a couple of turns. Did he really need to be

that aggressive on turn 1? I think we can call him the Robber Baron, for

this game at least.

With a lot of other maps (Western USA, Mexico, Canada, Australia and the

associated special rules and features for those maps) and possibly

playing the Trans-Continental scenario, there is more to explore with

this series. Something to look forward to in the future.

Yet More Wildcatters

This time Simon was green, Jeff red, Richard yellow and myself blue.

Jeff and Richard scored well due to their accumulated Wildcatters.

An AAR from Richard:

Another excellent session of Wildcatters. An

extremely close game, you probably couldn't get much closer than an 8

point spread between first and third (Simon was still in Island mode for

this game I feel 😂). The scores were very high which is further

evidence of everyone playing strategically. There was always lots of

helpful advice being shared amongst at least 3 participants each game

which is always nice to see......

With the benefit of hindsight, the cosy Wildcatter deal early in the

game might not have been the best option. Had Mark won one additional

Wildcatter he would have won the game by 2 points. (Jeff drops 8 to 102,

and Mark gains 4 to 104, which would have made the scores 104,102 and

100). All speculative though as every different action creates a

distinct set of new possibilities. The thing which I've noticed is that

Mark is more averse to bidding too much on Wildcatters, whilst Jeff and

I tend to be more cavalier with bidding. This is also reflected in the

fact that Mark rarely gets into a position of having to take out a share

loan.

So this is yet another area where everyone kind of needs to keep their

eye on players accumulating Wildcatters and at least forcing them to pay

as much as possible if they seem determined to get them. Strategic 

choices to perhaps deny other players the ability to bid unopposed need

to be considered, especially late game.

I think everyone is well attuned to the need to pick up consolidation

chips and I think Mark is best at doing that finishing with the highest

totals in this category across most games he has played in. Mark is also

best at managing his own shares and rarely has take out a loan.

Whilst taking a loan, in and of itself, isn't too much of a big deal,

the fact that a reserve of your own shares must be accumulated and oil

deliveries held back means that, avoiding a loan is probably the best

strategy. This has hampered my game for the last couple of outings. I'm

going to try and improve in this area in the future. Perhaps I could get

some tips on how to do that....

Everyone has also worked out the late turns refinery build and deliver

strategy, although I think this one is yet to prove itself a winning

strategy as it does allow the other players to potentially piggy back

and pick up valuable delivery points. It really does need a careful

scrutiny of what oil other players have available to execute this to

maximum advantage.

There hasn't yet been a game breaking strategy emerge, which is good as

it keeps the game engaging and re-playable. You don't really find out

how well you've done until the final count.

Wildcatters is definitely a star in my game po

More Wildcatters

Richard (yellow), Jeff (red), Stefan (green) and myself (blue) played this challenging game on Thursday.

Final scores were Mark 80, Jeff 60, Richard 75 and Stefan 24.

AAR provided by Richard

Quite a brutal outcome in the wash.

A very close affair even with me snatching defeat from the jaws of

victory with the wrong decision on the final play. I just needed to have

placed a refinery and that would have netted 6 points for a 1 point

victory. Jeff's second loan cost him the game on one analysis, however,

he would have had fewer oil deliveries to continents (he was in 1st

place on three of them for a total of 48 points) so it was give and

take. Mark's victory was grounded in Consolidation chips (44 - more than

half his final score) which meant he was most adept at being able to

manage his portfolio of shares. Stefan fell into the Canada trap once

again and sabotaged his ability to repay a loan, but turned out to be

the King maker in the game.

This was the first game which played very smoothly and relatively

quickly (for the most part) and allowed for some proper strategy. This

is also the first game where all the Consolidation chips were purchased

and where all continents were delivered to, another sign that everyone

was playing strategically.

This was also the first (almost) error free game we've played. There was

an unfortunate error in the Wildcatter auction on the last turn. You

can't participate unless you have a pump jack in the area. Only I had a

pump jack so therefore only I would have been able to participate.

Additionally in thinking about that last auction, I think we will need a

house rule for share loans. Theoretically you can take a loan for shares

at any point in the game according to the rules. This could lead to the

ludicrous situation where on the last round Stefan (assuming he had

actually been eligible) and I could have bid for Wildcatters into

infinity knowing we could get a loan to cover the final bid (if there

ever was one), so the game would never end.  There needs to be a

mechanism to prevent this.

I really like this game a lot. On one level it is very basic with a

concise set of rules. With only 7 plays as the active player and the

need to feed off the other players it really is so brutally punishing of

even a single mistake which makes it so very challenging. The new 3D

components make it look really nice on the table too which adds to the

experience. (There should be bonus points for being able to place a

fully loaded pump jack on the board without spilling it 😂).

I feel we are at the stage now with it that the rules are (mostly) down*

and we can focus on implementing a strategy which does make the game

much more enjoyable. Having said that, I feel we do need to be more

diligent and follow the sequence of play strictly to avoid making mistakes.

*The main rule still not understood by some people is grasping the

difference between drilling in a new oil field, i.e. putting down the

first pump jack vs developing an oil field.

I hope you enjoy playing Wildcatters as much as I do, as I intend to

schedule it in the future on a regular basis. I feel there is a lot more

to explore with it.

Railways of the World

I had played Railroad Tycoon thirty years ago and this game seemed very similar, but with extra chrome.  Of course it seems similar, it is just the latest version of that game (although for me I always think of Railroad Tycoon as the 1990 PC game of that name).

Anyway, Richard laid on this game for Russell (green), Jeff (dark red), Peter (purple) and myself (black).  Richard was yellow.

Very interesting dynamic in that earning peaks midway through at $25,

but as you get more VPs past 48 income starts to decline.

A serious problem if you have a lot of bonds to service.

Best of all this game is available on boardgamearena.com, but it is a premium game.

Europe in Turmoil but no Great War

Richard brought out this game for us to play again.  He went conservative while I was liberal.  

An excellent game.  Occasionally the conservatives had a decent lead, but with no war the final scoring favoured the liberals mainly due to their strong position in France.

Took five hours to complete which is longer than normal, but then that is because there was no Great War to bring a sudden end to proceedings.

RAF Take Two

Time for the second scenario which is a four-day event.  We just completed three and sadly had made a few errors as we are still learning the mechanics.  

Some aspects are frustrating, but the overall system seems to work well.

RAF

Introductory scenario for the operational level game of the Battle of Britain.  We played it twice through, changing sides to get the full feel for the game's systems. The scenario was just on day of raids, the cards for which are listed on the right-hand side (a random/hidden draw).

First time through we made a mistake with deployment giving the RAF had a few extra squadrons.

Second play through resulted in very similar outcome.

Next, the four-day scenario.

Hunters and Gatherers

The game I have played the most and blogged the least.  I play this with my partner after dinner, two or three times a week.  I have learnt not to overly encroach on her territory.

Very easy to set up and start playing immediately.  Not too hard to pack up when finished.  Perfect.

I play black and oh, look, I won:.177 to 139.

Big Boss and Union Stockyards

Two games played last week by Simon, Stefan, Jeff, Richard and myself.

Sadly missed taking a photo of the finished game.  Jeff was too keen to help packing it up.  Not surprising seeing the final amassed fortunes.

Then on to Union Stockyards which had the advantage that I had played it before.  However, as a five player game, it was quiet a different exercise. Everyone scored fairly close and I was surprised to win.

Imperial Elegy - No Bots

Well actually a Bot did takeover the Ottomans and caused plenty of headaches, more's the pity.

We did finish, but in the end the Great War occurred and we lost heart to continue, maybe...

Richard has again provided this superlative AAR:

Turn 5 

Sleepwalking into a Great War

With the Ottoman player unable to attend today's session, the Bot took over and certainly made its presence felt.

There was a lot of Empire building going on at the start of Turn 5. Britain resumed its Colonial mission and laid the planks for colonies through the centre of Africa stretching contiguously from Cairo to the Cape.

A diplomatic incident saw Russia lose Japan as an ally. Britain then swooped in and quickly allied Japan. Britain is very active diplomatically and also allies Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands and takes control of the Low Countries flashpoint.

France steadily invested in her armies and navy ensuring 2nd place in Power Projection and the resultant +1 DRM to industrialisation rolls.

Austria continued to invest in her people, granting rights.

The Poles stage a revolt in Galicia after Russian Provocations.

The big move of this turn was sprung by the Russians. Cunningly waiting until the Austrians were out of cards, they declared a war of conquest with the aim of claiming Romania which had recently been incorporated into the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Russians called upon their committed alliance partners France and the Ottomans. France refused to participate, but the Ottomans gladly joined in. The Austrians seeing the writing on the wall did some fast talking and offered a negotiated settlement without a shot being fired. Possibly a wise move as a combined Russo-Ottoman force may have been able to force their way to Vienna and inflict a major defeat. Romania is ceded to the Russians.

The Ottomans make diplomatic overtures in Oman and eject the British mission and subsequently take control of the naval base.

France places diplomatic influence on Italy. Italy moves into the Triple Alliance at the end of the turn.

Italy establishes a naval base in Aden.

Turn 6

A series of diplomatic wars break out between Britain and France over the Netherlands and between Russia and Britain over Persia.

A New Administration in Prussia abandons Unification as a National Goal. 

The Austrians fidget excitedly with a card they are dying to play. 

Further Polish revolts occur in Russia and whilst able to support their compatriots inside the Austrian Empire, the Austrians quickly subdue the Poles as do the Russians later in the turn. The Russians had to lose stability and the Austrians pounced with the Revolution of 1905 card causing them to either lose additional stability or lose a random card. The Russians discard a card.

France develops Dreadnoughts and 2 hulls are quickly laid down. The plans are shared with the Russians who also lay down a hull. Britain and Austria also lay down hulls in a frenzy of ship building.

Britain puts down a revolt in Balochistan, finally subdues Fiji and Rhodesia. Britain cements control of the Africa flashpoint.

Prussia colonises Somalia.

The Balkan Wars see Greece take control of Macedonia from the Ottomans.

Italy establishes a Naval base in the Caroline Islands.

The pesky liberals cause armies to stand down across Europe.

Turn 7

Prussia initiates a diplomatic offensive in Denmark, who break off their alliance with Britain. Germany places and then removes diplomatic influence with a view to attacking Denmark. They are prevented from declaring war however, as a series of mandatory events has raised the World Tension Track to 3 stopping Powers from declaring war.

The US Civil War breaks out. France sends a naval squadron and exerts diplomatic influence in support of the Confederates.

The Ottomans play Empire of the Sun. Russia loses Manchuria and Japan ally with the Ottomans replacing Britain.

The Boxer Rebellion breaks out, affecting Britain, France and Russia.

Italy expands its military with a squadron and standing army.

Later in the turn, the USA carries a big stick and takes control of Japan.

There is a lot of late game window dressing as the Powers try to shore up meeting National Goals. 

Britain reassesses its National Goals through play of  New Administration, ditching Most Alliances for having 8 more colonial spaces than they started the game with.

All the Powers are, however, sleepwalking into a Great War. Turn 7 started with a War Tension Track value of 1. There had been 5 separate cards in turns 5 to 6 which reduced WTT, despite that, Turn 7 started at 1 and then there were the following Mandatory Cards all increasing WTT by 1 each:

The Black Hand

Assassination (

Powder Keg (The re-alignment of Greece from Britain to Russia)

The tipping point was the play of the the very last card of the game, Shifting Alliances mandatory card which forced Britain into the Triple Entente and due to the number of powers in Alliances, triggered a Crisis Roll caused by inter-power espionage. Despite a last ditch effort through applying a +1 DRM with the play of Historical Bias, Britain narrowly failed to have the matter decided by an International Conference. The Great War breaks out.

France must have had some kind of premonition about the GW breaking out as they had made optimum investments in Dreadnoughts, Frontier Forts and Reserve Armies throughout the last turn and also being in charge of the Ottoman Bot for some targeted choices. But of course there is no such thing as clairvoyance and therefore I think it is fair to say we can condemn the French for the espionage which tipped Europe into a Great War.

Editorial: 

I feel there is a lesson in this. Although the temptation is to use cards for other things, it might be worth investing in the Diplomacy track in the interests of the stopping powers splitting into Alliance blocks. We all had the opportunity to do it with odd points here and there and remember you can influence any power including your own.

All National Goals are revealed. The VPs are as follows:

Britain: 10

Prussia and France: 6

Austria: 5

Russia: 3

Ottomans: 4

Once a Great War breaks out, the VPs are used to calculate "National Will". Depending on the VP band achieved, various bonuses in the form of Elite Corps or track boosts, i.e. Manpower, Stability or Industrialisation can be applied.

The State of the Alliances is as follows with some National Will boosts yet to come :

The Entente:

Prussia: 4 Standing Armies, 4 Reserve Armies and 2 Squadrons

Britain: 1 Standing Armies, 3 "Reserve Armies" appearing at London on GW Turn 1, 4 Dreadnoughts, 7 Squadrons, 2 Indian Armies

Austria: 5 Standing Armies, 5 Reserve Armies, 3 Dreadnoughts, 3 Squadrons

The Alliance

France: 5 Standing Armies, 5 Reserve Armies, 4 Dreadnoughts, 4 Squadrons (One is supporting the Confederates.)

Russia: 6 Standing Armies, 7 Reserve Armies, 2 Dreadnoughts, 2 Squadrons

Ottoman (or probably Turks as we should now call them following play of Young Turks): 4 Standing Armies, 3 Reserve Armies  3 Squadrons

Italy: 4 Standing armies, 2 Squadrons

In terms of land power (prior to some National Will effects), the Entente has the edge in terms of armies 34 to 24, however France is exposed to a potentially 3 front war against the Prussians, Austrians if they can push through Italy and Britain landing in their rear.

The corollary to the French situation is the Prussian situation. The Russians have a huge army and only one logical target. What happens in the first turn is likely to have a big impact on whether they can get the Steamroller going.

Naval Power is poised at an interesting juncture.

There are currently British and French Fleets at sea in the North Atlantic which will precipitate an immediate naval battle unless one side decides to flee. The forces are currently equally matched, however with the British Free Deployment at the start of a war (including a Great War) special rule they will be able to bring in another 2 Squadrons and a Dreadnought thus have a a +4 Firepower advantage together with a +1 extra ports, so a +5 modifier in total. This could make or break the war, especially if one side loses Dreadnoughts affecting stability.

Elsewhere the Austrians have a very large fleet and easily outnumber the Italians and Turks in the Mediterranean. 

Interestingly, the USA Alliance chit would normally start in the neutral box at the start of a GW. However, as the US Civil War was still in progress, (The normal game sequence stops once a GW breaks out)  the US Civil War never resolved, it is not placed so the USA will never enter.

At this point the game was adjourned. The players were caught quite by surprise as to how quickly the WTT escalated. Debate is currently being pursued amongst the players about whether to continue and resolve the Great War or assume that it was indeed averted by an International Conference.

Imperial Elegy - No Bots

 Six players: Jeff Prussia/Germany, Richard Great Britain, myself as France, Simon Austria-Hungry. Stefan Russia and Russell as the Ottomans.

Richard has provided this AAR on the first four turns.

Turn 1

Metternich plots to take over Italy and ally The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Meanwhile a Nationalist Wave immediately unifies Italy, scuppering Metternich's cunning plans. Austria has to re-calibrate and looks to the Balkans.

Britain puts down the Sepoy Revolt and moves to absorb Afghanistan.

Britain acquires Shanghai from the Qing.

The Second Opium War sees Britain gain Guangzhou and France Indochina from the Qing.

Britain ally Egypt.

Prussia absorbs Hanover and Saxony after a War of Unification.

Everyone industrialises.

Prussia invokes German Unification as a National Goal.

Turn 2

Prussia ally Bavaria.

Prussia declares a War of Unification but does not use the Bismarck card meaning other powers can come to the aid of the attacked power. Prussia absorbs Schleswig-Holstein after France, Britain and Russia ignore the pleas of the Danes. Bavaria joins to Prussia and the Prussians take control of the Germany flashpoint with a +1 Card marker.

A diplomatic war rages over Persia between Russia and Britain. Russia wins for now but burns up a lot of cards to do it.

Austria becomes Austria-Hungary and Hungarians are granted full citizenship.

Russia completes the Trans-Siberian Railroad.

Britain conquers Baluchistan.

Britain ally Greece after play of Powder Keg.

The Ottomans move into the Triple Entente everyone else is neutral.

The Liberals are up to their old tricks, and reserve armies are scaled back across the continent.

Everyone industrialises except the Prussians and Austrians.

Turn 3

Prussia attacks France to liberate Alsace-Lorraine. The French surprise the Prussians by playing a 4 card for war budget (Austrian Military advisers are suspected of meddling on behalf of the French) which gives them a total war budget of 8 including 3 for industry level and 1 for 2nd Empire

The Prussians mobilise their reserves, France reinforces the frontier and then Prussia wins a decisive victory, but then halts their offensive. They had the opportunity to press on. Would they rue this decision?

France with their superior war budget regroups and counterattacks. The causes casualties, but attack fails, but they press on. This time causing the Prussians to retreat from Alsace Lorraine. France wins a defensive victory and with their defeat of the Prussian Naval squadron imposes a blockade on Prussia in addition to demanding reparations.

Prussia will be -2 cards for next turn.

The dream of German Unification looks to be snuffed out? Or maybe there will be a comeback?

Austria grants rights to Serbs, Bosnians and Italians.

Austria sees a Second Industrial Revolution and all powers benefit from a +2 DRM to their industrialisation rolls this turn.

The Meiji Restoration brings Japan into the game and the Russians sneakily ally them after a to and fro sleight of hand with placing their diplomacy markers in various locations.

Russia ally Ethiopia.

Italy expands its influence and establishes a naval base in New Guinea.

Russia moves into the Triple Entente, joining the Ottomans. Strange bedfellows indeed.

The Liberals have been at it again and more reserve armies are disbanded. (Ed this was actually before the Franco-Prussian War, but as we have seen failed to stop the conflict.

Everyone Industrialises.

Turn 4

Prussia licks their wounds and only have two cards to play plus their home card. They build up their army and industrialise.

The Scramble for Africa sees the Ottomans seize East Africa and Britain and France continue the carve up. It's nearly all gone by the end of the turn.

Britain plays Urabi Revolt and seizes control of Egypt and the Suez Canal. This gives them control of the Africa flashpoint.

Austria grants Romanians full citizenship and then engages in a diplomatic offensive in Romania. Russia looks on passively. Austria then ally Romania and then incorporates them into the Empire. Russia is now cut off from the Balkans.

Italy establishes a naval base in Aden and adds influence in Madagascar.

France takes control of Mexico.

France, Russia and Ottomans are in a fully committed Triple Alliance, with lonely Prussia in the Entente. (Ed: France was forced into this by the aggression of Prussia).

With variable National Goals, it's unclear which power is doing the best. It's virtually certain that Russia will not gain bonus VP for controlling Istanbul with Russia and the Ottomans in an apostatic alliance. Prussia has a difficult road ahead in trying to unify as Germany. It will take another war with France and they now have powerful allies to Prussia's East. Any chance of bonus VPs for Prussian Colonial Spaces looks virtually impossible with Britain and France claiming almost everything on offer. So it will be a very tight race assuming a Great War doesn't break out.

Play adjourned with turns 5-7 to come.